Let's Talk About P

I don't seem to have as many stories about Sweet P on the blog because he is really the child that tends to fly below the radar screen. Unlike my very social K & R, P is quite happy to quietly entertain himself. (THANK YOU, Father, for at least one with this gift!)
While his siblings tend to demand a lot of attention, P Doodle does not seem to need to be in the spotlight. R makes and enforces the rules. K is very verbally analytical and a bit of a rabble-rouser. P tends to go with the flow.

He is mechanical and extremely tactile. I expect him to do very well in science classes (especially if they involve experiments), as his entertainment is frequently messy and a bit mischievous. It delights him to quietly destroy things in his quest to determine how they work. P is the one who colors in inappropriate places (books, walls, puzzles), paints with his food, tears paper products to tiny shreds, and hides small objects in random places.

His voice and his smile melt me to puddles--especially when he sings. He is my P Doodle, undeniably the baby of the family. He was the last born and the smallest, but I think I tend to baby him predominantly as a result of the many challenges he faced early on (health scares, hospitalizations and even surgery). When he was 8 weeks old, he aspirated on his own vomit due to reflux and stopped breathing. I had to resuscitate him with CPR while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. He weighed under 5 pounds at the time. I was an exhausted new mother. This was truly the scariest moment of my entire life...realizing that a lot of bad things could happen to my baby in the 5 minutes it was going to take the ambulance to reach our house. When I look at him, I cannot help but be reminded that despite his precious little package, he has had a lot of complications.

As we approach his 3rd birthday, it appears that his issues have greatly subsided. Because we have been on a sabbatical from therapy for a few months, I took him for a periodic Physical and Occupational Therapy evaluation a couple of weeks ago. I was told that he no longer needed therapy. What a miracle!!! My 2 lb 6 ounce, 31 1/2 week gestation preemie, with an MRI revealing a bleed in his brain and a mild Cerebral Palsy diagnosis has caught up to his peers developmentally! Today we had an evaluation of his oral motor/sensory issues--and while he still has a little bit of trouble, it appears it has more to do with his reflux than any physical issues. I stand in awe of the progress he has made. I could have never imagined he would have accomplished so much by now.

Proving again why faith in ourselves and common sense is futile--and faith in God is the only thing that makes any sense. My little guy is becoming a big boy. To God be the glory!